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When I was a Junior at MIT in 1975, working in the Large Systems Group (the PDP-10) in Marlboro as a summer co-op student, I asked some of the DEC old-timers what would happen if I invited Ken Olsen over to my little summer sublet in Marlboro. They said, "ask him". I figured they were playing a trick on a lowly co-op, but I figured, what the heck. So I invited him to stop by that coming Sunday afternoon. And he accep…
I grew up using a Intel 486-powered DEC workstation. DEC's legendary machines were behind them by that point, but I still have plenty of nostalgia for that computer. 16MB of RAM was a lot of memory in 1993.
It's a shame that every time I mention DEC to anyone, very few of them know what I am talking about... I enjoyed using VAX/VMS and admire DEC's contributions to modern ComSci. You will be missed!
We basically had foursquare on the VAX system, since you could keep track of your friends and the systems knew which lab you last logged into.
A short video, produced by Gordon College, offers a short history of Ken Olsen's impact and legacy. If not for DEC, the world of computing as we know it would not exist. The video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6We6VDtyHY More about Ken Olsen, and a quote from Bill Gates, can be found here: http://www.gordon.edu/kenolsen
I grew up using a Intel 486-powered DEC workstation. DEC's legendary machines were behind them by that point, but I still have plenty of nostalgia for that computer. 16MB of RAM was a lot of memory in 1993.
Alpha workstations were pretty awesome just then - although we used to buy the cheap ones with NT and install linux.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Alpha workstations were pretty awesome just then - although we used to buy the cheap ones with NT and install linux.
Ah yes, forgot about the Alpha port of NT. It's a little-known fact that Windows NT ran on non-Intel architectures: besides the Alpha version, there were MIPS and PowerPC ports.
They gave you Sparc ultra performance for 1/2 the price.
See: http://books.google.com/books?id=tDOVY3ek-UEC&lpg=PA20&#...
In retrospect it is amazing how far ahead of its time DEC often was: The first 64 bit processor (DEC alpha), the first search engine (Altavista), etc; and how little came of it in the end.
That all is now over 20 years ago, and I still look fondly back to that time, and I am still in contact with my former colleagues.
To me Ken was always one of those grandpa mentor types quick to engage and share his business wit. I remember how the DEC hackers would always talk about how Ken inspired a culture of intrapreneurs within the company, pushing engineers to feel free to create new products and businesses from within rather than acquiring.
It was a different era, but the stories of the guys and gals that stayed up all night coding away at The Mill really made my love for tech. There was a passion for what they did, not for the payday.
DEC was also one of the first startups funded by the modern idea of VCs.
It's a shame that every time I mention DEC to anyone, very few of them know what I am talking about... I enjoyed using VAX/VMS and admire DEC's contributions to modern ComSci. You will be missed!
I loved using VAX! RIT had one and I managed an account through a friend. I don't remember what shell environment it had on it, but there were plenty of scripts being passed down from one class to another. We basically had foursquare on the VAX system, since you could keep track of your friends and the systems knew which lab you last logged into.